White House Claims of Voter Fraud in California: A Fact Check
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A majority of Americans support both expanded early voting and mail-in ballots, alongside requiring government-issued photo identification at the polls, according to a recent Pew research Center survey. However, voters in Maine recently rejected a measure that would have implemented stricter voter ID laws.
In response to a question from PBS News regarding evidence supporting claims of fraudulent voting, the White House provided a list of statements intended to bolster the president’s concerns. Tho, much of this evidence does not demonstrate widespread voter fraud. Here’s a closer look at the points shared by the White House,with additional context from PBS News:
“CA does not use voter ID.”
While California doesn’t require voter ID to cast a ballot, the state does require a current and valid driver’s license number, state ID number, or the last four digits of one’s Social Security number to register to vote.
“CA uses global mail in balloting which we know to be vulnerable to fraud and abuse.”
California is one of eight states, plus Washington, D.C., that automatically mails ballots to all active registered voters. Nationwide, 28 states allow “no-excuse” absentee voting by mail.
The White House cited the bipartisan Carter-Baker Commission, which in 2005 identified absentee ballots as the largest potential source of voter fraud and vote by mail as perhaps increasing risks. Though,the late former President Jimmy Carter later expressed disappointment with the selective use of the report,noting that vote-by-mail practices have significantly improved as its publication in 2005.
Elections officials nationwide employ numerous measures to verify mailed ballots and protect against tampering. Multiple government and self-reliant analyses consistently find that voter fraud, including by mail, is rare.
PBS News’ Liz Landers asked White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt Nov. 4 for the evidence behind the president’s claims of voter fraud in California.
“CA mailed nearly 10 million mail-in ballots that were never returned in the 2024 election, which shows the potential for fraud and abuse.”
The White House referenced The Election Governance and Voting Survey from 2024, which shows California mailed 23,003,434 ballots and received 13,185,566 returns.
Its crucial to note that unreturned mail-in ballots are not counted as votes.
Vote-by-mail ballots require…
DOJ Sues California Over Voter Data Access
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) is suing California, claiming the state isn’t cooperating with efforts to maintain accurate voter rolls. The DOJ wants access to the state’s voter data, including dates of birth and partial social security numbers.They say this is necessary to identify and remove ineligible voters.
This isn’t the first time a federal effort to access detailed voter data has faced pushback. Back in 2017, then-Vice President Mike Pence led a commission to investigate alleged voter fraud in the 2016 election. The commission asked states for detailed voter information, like date of birth and partial social security numbers. Ultimately, the commission was dissolved in 2018 without finding any major instances of fraud.
California’s Secretary of state Shirley N. Weber, PhD, strongly disagrees with the DOJ’s approach. She released a statement saying,”State law is clear-California has a legal obligation to protect our voters’ sensitive private information. The U.S. Department of Justice has refused our invitation to view the data in the manner contemplated by federal statutes that would protect California citizens’ private and personal data from misuse. They failed to provide sufficient legal authority to justify their intrusive demands, and this lawsuit constitutes an unprecedented intrusion unsupported by law or any previous practise or policy of the U.S. Department of Justice.”
California uses VoteCal,a centralized voter database,to manage voter information. VoteCal regularly updates and cleans its data to ensure accuracy, removing voters who have moved or passed away. The state argues it’s already taking steps to maintain accurate voter rolls and doesn’t need the DOJ’s intervention – especially not at the cost of voter privacy.